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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27203873">Revenge done Right</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnWave/pseuds/DawnWave'>DawnWave</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>CSI: NY, Miraculous Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Bamf marinette, Canonical Character Death, F/M, Gen, Lila Rossi's Lies Are Exposed, Minor salt, minor gore</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 18:02:19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>6,724</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27203873</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/DawnWave/pseuds/DawnWave</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Who says that revenge is best served cold? Wouldn't it be best to do it right?</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Danny Messer/Lindsay Monroe, Don Flack/Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>3</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>204</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Revenge done Right</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Twenty-eight-year-old Marinette Dupain-Cheng frowned as she stared at her computer screen. On it was an email which had an invitation attached which proudly stated she was invited to the ten-year reunion of her graduation class of Collège Françoise Dupont’s sister school Lycée Jeanne d'Arc. She didn’t know if she ever wanted to go back to France after all the drama of Hawkmoth and Lila’s poisoned words. That was half the reason she had moved to New York after all. The other half had been her wanting to pursue her fashion career but when a fire had burned down the building next door to her apartment, her old habits as Ladybug had kicked in. The next thing she knew she had enrolled herself at university and earned herself a degree in forensic science and was working as part of the New York City Crime Lab.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Truth be told, she loved her job as well as the people she worked with. Danny and Lindsay were always fun to work with and she loved babysitting for them whenever she could. Mac and Stella had taken over the role of her parents after she’d had a minor breakdown after a fashion-related case had caused a few too many memories to resurface. Adam and Sheldon were her fun brothers and Sid was an awesome sounding board whenever she felt stuck. Marinette had refused to date when she had first started working at the lab but Don had been persistently patient with her and the two of them had eventually decided to give dating a try three years prior. He had proposed to her two years after that but they were yet to get married as they weren’t in any rush.   </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marinette groaned as her phone went off just as she was about to reply to the email. Looking at her phone she quickly logged out of her emails before shutting down her computer and joining Sheldon as he made his way to the elevator.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s up with that look Mari?” Sheldon asked with a semi-worried frown.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Urgh! Just got an email inviting me to my high school reunion. I was about to reply when this case came in but honestly, I don’t want to go.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Cause of all the drama or because you don’t care anymore?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Would it be weird if I said both?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They made their way to the car and Marinette climbed into the passenger seat content to let Sheldon drive.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Have you spoken to Don about it yet?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Didn’t get the chance, I only saw the email twenty minutes before this case came in. The reunion is in two weeks time, which screams of bad planning or it would if I hadn’t looked at who was organising it.” Marinette replied as they made their way onto the scene.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lila?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, she’s in charge of the communication side of the whole thing. Chloe is providing the venue while Sabrina is doing the rest of the organising, as per usual.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah. So you’re thinking you didn’t get the earlier invites to make you look bad?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Possibly. I mean I’d hope they would have grown up and moved on but who knows how bad Lila got after I left Paris?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, I for one am glad you left.” A voice cut in. “If you hadn’t we would never have met!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“True, true. What are we looking at Don?”  Marinette asked after flashing her fiance a loving smile. They didn’t do more simply because they knew they were on the clock.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Our vic is male, no ID, looks like he was married though if the glint coming off his hand is what I think it is. Some teenagers looking for a make out spot called it in when they saw what they thought was red paint dripping down the wall, looked up and saw the vic.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How on earth did he get up there?”  Marinette muttered before turning to Sheldon.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll do trace and photos if you want the body.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You got it!” Sheldon replied before making his way over to their kits to grab some gloves. Marinette joined him and grabbed the camera and a pair of gloves at the same time. Don looked tempted to comment but held back since he knew they needed to concentrate.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Looks like COD is blunt force trauma to the skull,” Sheldon called down.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That fits with the bloody pipe I just found,” Marinette called in reply, rapidly snapping photos before bagging and tagging everything she could.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Since it looked like it was about to rain the two of them worked quickly to get as much as they could while Don spoke to the teens who had found the body.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Once they were done and on their way back to the lab Marinette let her head fall back against her seat. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Still thinking about that invite?” Sheldon queried.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, something seems off about it. I think I’m going to get Adam to track it back just to be safe.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fair enough.” Sheldon replied with a nod.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The next three days passed in the usual blur of tests, result analysis and evidence gathering before they sent Don off to arrest their vic’s brother-in-law. Turned out the vic had found out about some shady deals the guy was doing and confronted him, only to meet his end.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>In between everything though, Adam had found the time to run a couple of tests on Marinette’s email and had had to delete several viruses that had been attached to it. He was sure they had been added deliberately as a couple of them were designed to clone all her accounts and spam x-rated images photoshopped to look like Marinette’s younger self to all of her contacts. The only reason it hadn’t activated was thanks to the firewalls on all of the computers at the lab. Mac had been furious when Adam had told him as had Marinette and Don. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marinette sighed heavily as she lay on the couch, her head on Don’s lap. He was running his hand through her hair absently as they spoke. The T.V. was on but they weren’t paying any attention to it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What did she think she would accomplish with that? I haven’t been anywhere near France since I left. Heck I haven’t even contacted my parents since I sent them an email saying I was changing my career path and got back their reply saying Lila had warned them I wouldn’t hack it. I just don’t get it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Some people just can’t let go of the past. Maybe she thought if you came back you’d steal the spotlight from here? We deal with people like Lila everyday, Mari, and despite that I will never claim to understand them.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Since Adam found it’s a real event and we have some vacation time owed to us, should we go?” She asked, fiddling with the hem of her shirt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We can, but there’s something I’d like to do first,” Don answered cautiously which made her look up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I want us to get married. Neither of us want anything fancy but I want you to have my name if we are going to France.” Don said with a slight blush.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Possessive much?” Marinette said with a small teasing smile. “Alright, since tomorrow is Thursday, we can go to City Hall at lunchtime to apply for the licence. Since we then have to wait for 24 hours, we could get married on Saturday in the park if you like? You’d need to organise an officiant since I’d need to sort out the food, unless we just have a BBQ after?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That works. Are you ok with not having anything fancy?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, why wouldn’t I be? As long as the team is there too, I have all I need.” Marinette confirmed with a smile. Don smiled too, he couldn’t ask for a better wedding set up even if he tried.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After telling the team about their plans and receiving mountains of support from all of them, landing yet another case and booking their time off with the trip to France included, Saturday arrived much too soon.  Thankfully, Marinette had been able to get clothes ready for the two of them in time, and the weather itself was playing along by being sunny without being too hot. The ceremony was a case of blink and you’ll miss it and before either of them realised it they had finished signing the papers and were officially married. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thankfully the rest of the day went just as smoothly as the team celebrated with the promised BBQ along with a few jokes and lots of laughter. By the time everyone headed home, they were ready to collapse. Unfortunately for the newlyweds their plane was scheduled to leave in a little under twelve hours and they still needed to double check their bags were packed. Marinette was almost finished checking her bag when she heard a yelp coming from the lounge causing her to rush through only to freeze. There stood Don looking terrified as several Kwami floated around him, bombarding him with questions. Marinette quickly realised it wasn’t all the kwami that were scarring Don but Lucass the spider kwami.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lucass, please come here. Don has arachnophobia and unfortunately despite being the kwami of connections, you are spider-shaped.” Marinette called softly which did two things. The first was break Don out of his terror, the second was get herself swarmed by all the kwami.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Guardian! You’re here!” They cried as they tried to nuzzle as close to her as possible.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve been here for a while but how did you get here? Last I knew you were all with Master Fu? And what’s with calling me Guardian? I thought Master Fu refused to make me the next Guardian when I staged the intervention which led to Hawkmoth’s downfall. He demanded the Ladybug Miraculous back and told me I’d never see any of you ever again despite the fact that he’d been sending me to the temple for training so often I was practically running on coffee most of the time.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That would be our fault pigtails,” a nasal voice replied.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Plagg?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. Anyway, the old man was losing it. There were just too many of us around and he was too old to cope. Eventually Tikki and I staged a rebellion and had Kaalki use voyage to bring us to you. You are the only person to ever wield more than two miraculous at the same time and you have proven yourself worthy in a way none of the previous Guardians ever did.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Marinette? What’s going on?” Don asked cautiously. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marinette blushed heavily as gave Don the summary of what the Miraculous were as well as her history with them. She was about to say more when there was a knock on the window and they saw two figures there who almost had Don fangirling when he realised who they were.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Am I seeing things? Or are Uncanny Valley and Eagle sitting on our fire escape?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marinette laughed as she walked over to the window and opened it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m guessing Liiri let you know what happened?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She told me and I filled Valley in.” Eagle said with a soft smile. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s good to see you again, Ladybug.” Uncanny Valley said with a smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I haven’t been Ladybug in over ten years, guys, but it’s good to see you too. This is my husband, Don Flack. Don I know being a native to New York you don’t need to be told who these two are.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not at all. Pleasure to meet you both,” Don said in a slight daze before he shook his head and looked at Marinette. “Love, we have a flight to catch in about ten hours. What are we going to do about all of, well, </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span>?” He said gesturing to the chaos in the room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marinette sighed as she looked around before nodding as she made her decision.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll wear a couple of the miraculous and I’ll let a kwami choose you, Don. Eagle, I once trusted you with the care of the Eagle Miraculous. Can I trust you with taking care of the Eastern and Native American Miracle Boxes temporarily? We will be back in ten day so they won’t be on your shoulders for too long. I’ll throw together the protection boxes as fast as I can when we get back.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure! I don’t mind and I’m honoured you would entrust them to me. I know I wasn’t exactly nice to you when we first met. If you give me a list of materials you’ll need to make the protections, I’ll have them ready for you when you return.” Eagle said with a sheepish smile. Marinette waved her hands in a dismissive way.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t make a good impression on Sparrow either. I was a mess at the time so it’s understandable.” Marinette said with a smile that was just as sheepish as Eagle’s before she quickly wrote out the list of materials she’d need and handed it over. She then took out the ladybug and black cat miraculous as well as the fox, snake and otter before looking at Don then the Kwamis. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think the wolf suits Don best don’t you, Howwl?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Howwl flew over to Don and inspected him before looking back at Marinette.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He certainly embodies what I stand for Guardian. Courage, strength, and loyalty could definitely be used to describe him and he has a similar sense of humour to myself so that will help.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marinette smiled as she removed the Wolf Miraculous from the box and handed it to Don. She then handed both boxes to Eagle who nodded and the two heros left. Don looked over at his wife.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Am I going to have to get used to heroes and fairies now?” He asked with a wry smile. Marinette blushed and looked down.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, I honestly thought that part of my life was gone for good when Master Fu reacted the way he did.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, hey, hey. I’m not complaining, love, just a little shocked.” Don said with a smile as he put a finger under Marinette’s chin to get her to look up at him. He smiled then kissed her briefly. “We have a while before we have to be at the airport so let's finish all our preparations and you can tell me as much as you can about this hidden side of you.” Don’s tender smile had Marinette struggling to remember to breathe as she agreed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know, you’re taking this better than Marinette did when she first met me,” Tikki suddenly piped up causing Marinette to groan and bury her head in her hands. Don’s grin turned positively wolfish as he faced the floating red kwami.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh? Do tell.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes she screamed, threw things at me and called me a ‘floating bug-mouse.’” Tikki said with a happy laugh. Don laughed as he looked at Marinette.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know what, I can see her doing just that!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The remaining time before they left for the airport vanished in a flurry of stories, embarrassed groans from Marinette, and laughter from Don. By the time Mac fetched them before he went to his shift at the Lab, Don had completely accepted the weirdness that came with finally marrying Marinette. He’d loved her before all of this came to light, but now he was even more impressed by her. Sure he wasn’t happy she hadn’t told him about her superhero connections but at the same time he understood she couldn’t say anything as he’d have wanted proof which she didn’t have.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their flight and subsequent arrival in Paris was over with, with very little fanfare. Checking into their hotel room was a slightly different story.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dupain-Cheng?” The blond behind the counter gasped when she saw Marinette.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s Flack now, outside of work anyway,” Marinette said warily. “How are you Chloe?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s been forever!” Chloe replied, missing the wariness in Marinette’s voice. “I’m guessing you’re here for the reunion. I’m sorry the invites got sent so late, the rat insisted she’d handle them and conveniently forgot to send yours. It was only when Sabrina checked for your reply that we picked up the error. We then forced her to send you one by checking for replies everyday.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks Chloe,” Marinette said softly even as Don rubbed small soothing circles over her back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, look at the time! You too must be exhausted. Your room is the one across from Jagged’s normal room, you remember where that is right? Off you go!” The blond said handing Marinette the key cards and sending them on their way. Marinette laughed slightly after they were in their room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She’s changed a little. Still oblivious to anyone not named Chloe but not as harsh about it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She is a ray of sunshine then?” Don asked with a smirk.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh yes! Wait until you meet the rest. You’ll see why I have so much patience then. Now, I think a shower and sleep are in order. It’s late and we’ve been up for more than 24 hours at this point.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re used to it thanks to some of our cases but I agree.” Don said readily.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two of them showered and collapsed into bed only to wake up to a buzzing alarm the next morning. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Who set the alarm?” Marinette groaned as she searched for the thing in order to shut it off. Don groaned as he pushed his way through his sleep to join her in wakefulness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I did, Mari!” Tikki chirped. “I know you are tired but I don’t think you want to sleep your holiday away.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fair enough,” Don replied as Marinette finally found the alarm and turned it off before rolling over to face him. “What’s the plan for today, love?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I figured I’d show you around Paris for a bit but honestly I don’t really have a plan. I never planned on coming back here so I never thought about what I’d do if I came back.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Huh, I see your point. Well, we need gifts for the team so we could do a bit of shopping. Maybe take a couple of day trips out of Paris to sightsee. Do you need to do any more work on your dress or my suit for the reunion?” He asked as he ran his fingers up and down her back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“They complete, somehow.” Marinette said with a soft laugh. “The day trips sound good and since I know you have a sweet tooth, we should see if we can track down Andre’s Ice-cream Cart for some sweetheart ice cream.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you want to see your parents?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“After the way they replied when I told them about my career change not really but I guess we should. Could we do that today to get it out the way?” She asked shyly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sure! I get why you are reluctant but in the end it’s got to be done. Besides it’s not like you gave up designing, you still do it and have a highly successful website dedicated to it, it’s just not your whole focus. I still love the fact that your label is ‘CSI Designed!’” Don said with a chuckle.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I thought it was a clever play on my life. Besides if you look at the materials I use it makes sense.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know, love, relax.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They quickly dressed and headed down to have breakfast before heading out onto the busy streets of the city.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not as crowded as NY that’s for sure.” Don commented absently as he looked around the bustling area.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Trust me, it’s crowded enough.” Marinette replied as she let her memories flow through her. “I kinda miss home though if I’m honest.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know what you mean. But if we’d stayed at home we’d have been called in if the lab ran short of staff or if a case got too big, then where would our holiday be?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Always pragmatic.” Marinette said with a laugh even as she threaded their fingers together and started to walk towards her parents bakery.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The walk itself was pleasant as Marinette pointed out various landmarks where certain things had happened. They even stopped and had coffee at a cafe dedicated to the heroes who had once protected the city. Eventually though they arrived at Tom &amp; Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie. Marinette braced herself with a deep breath and pushed the door open before stepping in, Don following close behind her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Be right out!” Marinette heard her mother call from the back and risked a glance at Don who smiled at her reassuringly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Welcome to Tom &amp; Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie. I’m Sabine, how can I help you” Sabine trailed off as she saw who was standing at the counter. Her smile seemed to become fixed as she looked her daughter over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, finally decided to come back with your tail between your legs?” Sabine said harshly, her customer service facade vanishing since there was no-one else in the store for once.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nope, just thought I’d stop in and say hello, Maman.” Marinette said softly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why bother? You haven’t contacted us in ten years.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I didn’t contact you because your last email to me when I told you about my career change made it clear you didn’t want me to bother you again. However it would be rude of me not to visit Paris and not at least greet you.” Marinette replied softly, sadness starting to colour her voice even as she fought it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sabine stared at her daughter and finally took note of what she was wearing. Instead of the rags Sabine had been expecting, Marinette was wearing well fitted jeans and a pretty red blouse. Her shoes, while not new, were in good condition and when put together with the modest jewelry and clear skin painted a picture of a healthy woman rather than one struggling to make ends meet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, you’re not here to beg for help?” Sabine half demanded, not quite willing to let go of the picture she’d developed about her daughter’s life just yet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Nope. Just to say hello and introduce you to my husband.” Marinette replied with a smile looking up at the tall man next to her whom Sabine had barely taken note of. Tom walked in Just as Marinette said husband and froze.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You-you got married?” He choked out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yup,” Marinette chirped happily. “Meet Detective Don Flack of the NYPD. My husband.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How did you two meet each other?” Tom asked cautiously even as he pictured the worst case scenario thanks to years of exposure to Lila.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We work together,” Don replied glibly. “Mari seems to have the easiest time toning down the geek speak for me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t need to tone down the geek speak for you! You understand it well enough!” Marinette protested, knowing full well he was only teasing her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ruin my fun will you?” Don said even as he grinned widely and wrapped his arms around her while standing behind her. Marinette simply smiled happily and leaned into him before glancing up at her parents to gauge their reactions. Sabine was staring at the two of them in disbelief but Tom was smiling happily. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So you are a detective, Maribug?” Tom asked, bringing their attention back to the previous topic.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh no, I’m a CSI which means I go to crime scenes, collect evidence and help process it which then allows Don to lock the person who did the crime away.” Marinette summed up. Sabine’s eyes widened.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So what happened to wanting to go into fashion?” Sabine asked bitterly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I still enjoy fashion but it’s no longer my main focus. To be honest I’d gone off it slightly thanks to Gabriel’s treatment of his family and workers, but the fire and seeing how the scene was dealt with just seemed to call to me. I barely remember sending in my university application and studying before finding myself working with my team and I wouldn’t change them for the world. It was at that moment when Don’s phone went off making Marinette look at him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Might want to keep that thought in mind, love,” Don said before putting the phone to his ear. “Yeah, Mac, what can I do for you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marinette laughed as Don groaned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Seriously? Alright, we’ll head over but no promises. Yeah, we have our badges with us but Mari doesn’t have her kit. Yeah, I’ll keep you in the loop. See Ya, Mac.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Case?” Marinette asked wryly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, some American tourist has been found dead and the FBI’s IRT has asked for some assistance until they arrive.” Marinette nodded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright, will we be met at the scene?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, they're expecting us.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marinette nodded in acceptance. “Let’s go then.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not what I was expecting to do on holiday.” Don grumbled which made Marinette laugh.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know how they got the local CSI’s to agree to this. I mean we don’t have jurisdiction at all and our badges mean nothing here!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know either but we’ll find out when we get there right?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I suppose so. So where’s our scene located?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well it seems our perp wanted to make a show of things. The body was found on the steps of the US Embassy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Explains why they want an american CSI even if I am technically French.” Was the last thing Marinette’s parents heard as the two walked out the door. Sabine took a deep breath as she turned to look at her husband.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We messed up, didn’t we?” She asked quietly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Very much so, I don’t know if Mari will ever forgive us. I mean we didn’t get a wedding invite but who’s to say we’d have believed it?” Tom asked sadly. Sabine nodded and let her head rest against Tom’s chest. She pulled away when the bell above the bakery door rang and faced the customer that had just walked in. Tom vanished into the back again and the two of them resumed their day as though nothing had happened. Their encounter with Marinette didn’t leave their minds though and by the end of the day, they had resolved to patch things up with Marinette before she left France again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Don and Marinette had caught a taxi to the Embassy and had been greeted at the scene by a senior inspector.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know why they wanted American CSI’s to do this, our people are just as well trained.” The inspector said in accented english coloured heavily with disdain.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re not sure why we were called in either, Inspector.” Marinette said soothingly, letting her natural accent through a little more strongly then she normally did.. “I hope we can work together though as I’m interested in how our methods may differ if at all.”  The inspector starred at Marinette in surprise.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re French!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I am,” Marinette admitted. “I grew up here in Paris during Hawkmoth’s reign, though I’m not sure that’s a good thing to admit.”  The Inspector smiled at her and nodded while Don breathed a sigh of relief at the averted crisis. A local CSI quickly handed Marinette a pair of gloves, which Don took as his cue to get to work as well. He quickly made his way over to the people who had found the body and began asking his normal set of preliminary questions with the Inspector taking note of the answers and interjecting with some of his own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We make a better team than I thought we would,” the inspector admitted once they were done with all the questions. Don laughed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not at home so I tried to be as respectful as I could be. I freely admit that while I know most of the laws for my own country, I don’t know all that much about France. My wife and I are only in the country for a high school reunion, nothing more nothing less. We don’t mind helping but we won’t be taking over!” Don admitted with a large smile. He was startled when he heard Marinette laugh next to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Got that right! I’m not looking forward to the reunion but I think we need the break from work. Besides we are technically on our honeymoon and I for one would like to be able to relax.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The inspector looked at the two of them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re on your honeymoon? But you are barely showing any affection!” He spluttered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, we try and keep it professional when we’re at a scene. Less chance for things to go wrong that way.” Don said wryly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fair. Which high school reunion are you here for?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lycée Jeanne d'Arc.” Marinette replied with a sad smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not keen on attending it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t have many happy memories from highschool.  It was made into a living hell by a girl who didn’t like me standing up to her and it almost drove me to suicide a number of times. I’m lucky to be one of the few that were never akumatised but if I’m honest it was a close call on a couple of occasions.” Marinette sighed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you ever try to press charges?” The Inspector asked cautiously while Don wrapped his arm around Marinette.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was convinced to take the ‘high road’ by the boy I had a crush on at the time. I didn’t realise he had been gaslighting me until I got away from Paris. I also didn’t realise how much damage the girl had done to my relationship with my parents until I let them know I was changing my career path and instead of getting support they said they knew I’d fail. In the end though I don’t think it matters. I have a wonderful husband, a job I love which allows me to help people and people who love me for myself, not what I can give them. What more could I ask for?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Don dropped a kiss on her forehead, unable to resist the urge before sighing and stepping away from her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’ll always have us, love. To change the subject though, what did you find?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Prints from at least two people, there’s a bit of blood splatter that doesn’t match the vic’s wounds so we suspect it might be from the perp and some weird glittery substance that was caught on her skin. I won’t be doing the lab work here to keep things legal but judging by the number of wounds and the level of overkill I’d say there was some serious rage behind this.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Any idea what the COD could be?” Don asked reflexively, making Marinette laugh and the inspector side-eye him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do I look like Hawkes? There was evidence of both blunt and sharp force trauma but until they do the autopsy I don’t think we’ll be able to tell what was the killing blow.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You have CSI’s that can tell you COD at the scene?” The inspector asked in amazement.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Most of us can’t but Hawkes was our ME until he decided he was interested in fieldwork. He also volunteers as a medic in his down time.” Marinette admitted readiy. “I guess the longer we work the scenes the more likely it is we’d be able to guess what the COD is but I don’t think a normal CSI would ever be able to tell just by looking at a body.” The inspector nodded. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marinette quickly did all the paperwork needed to cover her part of the investigation while Don wrote up his findings as well as everything he could remember from the scene. It was with no small amount of relief that they then handed everything over to the IRT upon their arrival.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, that’s not something I ever thought I’d end up doing while on honeymoon.” Marinette said as she walked out of the bathroom after they’d gone back to the hotel.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Agreed,” Don said with a small smile as he looked her over. He’d showered first and was reclining on the chaise looking much more relaxed than when they’d arrived. His smile turned slightly heated as he sat up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can think of a couple of things I’d rather be doing,” he said snagging her waist as she walked closer to him. Marinette laughed happily instead of replying.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The next few days leading up to the reunion were spent exploring Paris and some of its outskirts and relaxing in each other's company. They were occasionally called in by the IRT to confirm some of the things they had mentioned from the crime scene they had been called to. Since it wasn’t their case they didn’t dwell too much on it though. Eventually, the night of the reunion arrived and Marinette couldn’t help feeling slightly anxious about what might happen. If her parents' reactions were anything to go by, Lila hadn’t left Marinette’s reputation alone after Marinette had left.  </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’ll be fine, Marilove. I’ll be with you the whole time.” Don reassured her as they rode the elevator down to the ballroom.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m being silly, aren’t I?” Marinette asked quietly, looking up from playing with Plagg’s ring. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She wasn’t worried about anyone recognising it as while it still looked like a signet ring it was much more feminine then it was when Chat Noir had it. Her outfit made her look gorgeous in Don’s opinion. Her dark red </span>
  <a href="https://www.pinterest.nz/pin/324118504437184715/?nic_v2=1a6e9Kaly">
    <span>Halter neck jumpsuit</span>
  </a>
  <span> showed her figure off beautifully, while her Black slingback pumps boosted her height just enough to give her the air of effortless elegance. Her makeup was light though she had chosen to go for a dark red lipstick which didn’t come off when she ate or drank. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Exiting the elevator they made their way into the ballroom marked as where the reunion was taking place. Marinette smiled and walked over to a group with two women she introduced as Aurore and Mireille and a male she introduced as Marc. The five of them were having a pleasant conversation until a voice broke into it from behind Marinette.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I can’t believe you actually had the temerity to show up!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marinette turned around and cocked her head to the side when she saw Nino, Alya and Adrien with Lila clinging like a limpet to Adrien’s arm, her hands positioned to show off a very gaudy engagement ring.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why wouldn’t I?” Marinette asked calmly. “I was invited afterall.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You aren’t wanted here. I heard how you got Chloe and Sabrina to force Lila to send you an invite.” Alya sneered. Nino closed his eyes as if to block out what was happening while Adrien smiled vapidly. Marinette would have frowned in worry if she hadn't recognized it as the one he always wore in his photo shoots. A quick glance at his eyes confirmed it wasn’t due to him being under the influence of anything.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“May I ask where your evidence of that accusation is?” Don asked firmly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We saw the screen shots of the emails and texts!” Alya snapped. “Who are you to interfere anyway, her lawyer? Or maybe she’s sleeping with you to pay you to be with her tonight.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Don and Marinette burst out laughing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I am her husband so I should hope we are sleeping together.” Don replied, unfazed by Alya’s accusations. “I’m also a cop, if that helps.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That garnered a few raised eyebrows. Don could practically see the cogs in the limpets head turning to make a new story.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Before you start accusing my wife of anything, here’s a few easily verified facts for you. Mari didn’t know about this reunion until two weeks ago. We only came to France six days ago and before that we were in New York, where we live and work. Marinette and I work together although we are in different departments.” Don stated and was about to continue when both his and Marinette’s phones went off. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marinette got hers out faster and paled when she saw the screen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Mari?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s from Mac, all those who worked on the case with that flashdrive are being targeted. A system wide text went out but Mac managed to edit mine to try and stop me from worrying.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do we need to cut our holiday short?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not according to this, however, Mac has Adam running system checks on everyone’s electronic gear just to be safe.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You just worried about the team, aren't you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“When am I not? You know that the scene’s are normally secure by the time we arrive but there’s always that chance that something could go wrong.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two of them had ignored Marinette’s old classmates as they spoke but were forcefully brought back to awareness when Alya decided to open her mouth and say the wrong thing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, you’re a dirty cop then. Should have known this bitch could only land trash.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Marinette growled, forgetting she had dialed Adam’s number to check on him and that her phone was in her hand still. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What did you say?” Marinette asked quietly, her voice shaking with fury.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You heard me. If he married you, he has to be a dirty cop.” Ayla sneered. Marinette was about to light into Alya when her attention was caught by the screen, which had been running a slideshow of photos, was suddenly filled with the image of Adam and Mac with the crime lab behind them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know for a supposed reporter you’re more of a hac.” Mac said as fury flashed in his eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Seriously Maritrash, you can’t fight your own battles so you get your sugar daddy to fight them for you!” Lila sneered.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She doesn’t need me to fight her battles for her.” Mac’s eyes flashed and he nodded to Adam who gleefully started to fill up the screen with proof that Marinette was innocent of everything she had ever been accused of. Aya went to defend Lila when proof of Lila’s lies slowly started to cover the proof of Marinette’s innocence. Alya froze and turned to glare at Lila only to transfer her glare to Adrien when Adam started to play the video of Adrien telling Marinette to take the high road.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Lila slowly started to make her way towards the exit and was just about to escape when a voice stopped her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lila Rossi?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Y-yes.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You are under arrest on the following charges…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The voice trailed off as it got too far away for everyone to hear what was being said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, you know how to liven up a party!” Chloe said from her place near the eats table. Marinette went to reply but Mac’s voice from the screen cut her off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry about that, Mari.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s alright, Mac, I know you were just looking out for Don and I. You’d do the same for any of our family.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Damn right I would. Anyway, enjoy the rest of your holiday. We’ll be alright until you get back.” Mac smiled at his co-workers and the screen cut off, returning to the slideshow it had had before. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was an exponential rise in the noise level as everyone tried to process what they had just seen. Don saw Alya turning to face Marinette again and he quickly guided his wife away from her and towards a couple of people who had friendlier faces. The couple spent the rest of night floating from group to group doing a general catch up on what had been happening in France. Don kept an eye on Marinette the whole time they were talking and when she indicated she wanted to leave two hour later, he was more than happy to comply. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The last few days of their vacation slash honeymoon were spent in much the same way as the first days were, visiting tourist attractions, buying gifts for their friends and spending time relaxing. Behind all of this though they tell they were worried about their team and couldn’t wait to head home. As they were heading to the airport, Don finally broke his silence about the Lila drama.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why didn’t you deal with her before the night of the reunion?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why bother dealing with her when she was something I had relegated to my past? I chose to get the best revenge I possibly could without sinking to her level.” Marinette replied with a smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh? And that would be?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Simple. I lived a successful life without looking back.”</span>
</p>
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